Big Leaguers Notebook: Aug. 30

Mets evacuate homes in advance of Hurricane Irene

 Mets players Dillon Gee, Willie Harris, Bobby Parnell, Justin Turner and Josh Thole may be Major Leaguers, but on Friday they were among the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who were forced to evacuate their homes and search for places to stay in advance of Hurricane Irene.

"There are definitely some guys who will be [staying at Citi Field] the next two days," said Gee prior to the storm. "Maybe air mattresses, couches. I really don't know. People will just sleep wherever they can." (The New York Times)

 Celebrate the start of a new school year with a peek at the high school yearbook photos of baby-faced Bronx Bombers Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher. (SI.com)

 Yonder Alonso didn't have an easy road to the Majors, but his journey made him appreciate the life he has now. Thirteen years ago, Alonso and his family fled Cuba for the United States.

"Was rough. Very rough. Baseball was my key to learning English," recalled the Reds outfielder, whose family spoke no English and cleaned offices to afford their one-bedroom apartment in Miami. "Going into offices to clean up after people, that was really awful. After I signed, I told my family, 'That's it. You aren't ever going to clean offices again. Because of all that, I never take anything for granted. Nothing." (FOX Sports North)

 First-year Padres pitchers Anthony Bass and Josh Spence are making a case as the Major League Wookiees of the Year. (Yahoo! Sports)

 The first time Peter Bourjos let teammate Russell Branyan cut his hair, he got on a hot streak at the plate and hit safely in the next nine games. The second time he asked Branyan for a trim, Bourjos got pranked and left the barber chair "bald as a baseball." At least he fit in well with fellow baldies Vernon Wells and Torii Hunter in the Angels outfield. (Los Angeles Times)

 Thanks to professional athletes like Chipper Jones, eKnowledge is giving a brighter future to student-athletes in need (Yahoo! Sports) and military veterans (VMWUSA.org) by providing software to help them prepare for the SAT and ACT college admissions exams.

Quote of the Day: "It feels great -- what a team win. There've been times I've picked these guys up, there've been times they've picked me up. To get to 20 at this point in the season, obviously you can't do it all on your own. You've got to have a lot of help. I think it speaks to this team. We really battled today, it was not an easy win. It's just another example of why I am where I am. It's mostly to do with the 24 other guys on this roster." -- Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who credited his teammates in helping collect his 20th victory of the season on Saturday (MLB.com). The last American League pitcher to reach the 20-win milestone before September was Roger Clemens in 1997. (Detroit Free Press).

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.